Envy, Anger and Slothfulness---Are We Talking About Anyone You Know?

When Dante classified the vices (commonly known at the Seven Deadly Sins) he placed Envy, Anger and Slothfulness as number two, three and four directly beneath the worse vice of all: Pride. Dragging up the rear are Greed in fifth place, Gluttony in sixth and Lust at the very bottom. I never could figure out why Pride is so much worse that Lust but you can't argue with a dead dude who was born way back in 1265. Dante was a Gemini---if anyone cares about those things---an Italian writer/poet that all self-respecting college students and serious Catholics have at least heard about, if not studied the stuffings out of in the wee hours of the night. The likes of "The Divine Comedy" and "The Inferno" are woven into the fabric of all western thought. Some might even say that Dante single-handedly Christianized the thoughts of Aristotle. And while the work of Dante never showed up in "The Idiot's Guide to Philosophy" or in any of the Seinfeld episodes---and why would it if his thoughts weren't original?---the work of Aristotle does appear in both these venues. This article, the last installment of my Deadly Sins Series, examines Envy, Anger and Slothfulness.

Envy - Envy is a sin against The Virtue of Love. Okey, dokey. That's easy enough to understand. We can't resent what others have at the same time claiming to love them. "Love is patient, love is kind"---I don't remember where that quote comes from but it's a good one to chant when we're tempted to envy our brother's extensive bowling ball collection or our aunt Ruthann because she's got a doctoral in something we can't pronoun. I know, I know, bowling ball gardens are pretty cool and knowing stuff can win you money on game shows. Envy is so hard to resist! But we're suppose to love people enough to be happy for their good fortunes and sad when their luck runs out. Envy is so mixes up with Pride and competition that even the theological experts have trouble sorting out all the sin/virtue nonces and make them stand up and behave. So we common folks can just put all that theological and philosophical chic-chat into a hopper and it comes out the other end as, "Love Thee Neighbor."